EUPREPIS VENUSTUS. 229 



Genus EUPREPIS, Wagl. 



Gen. Char. — Body subfusiform, protected by keeled scales. Head 

 subcorneal and depressed. Nostril in one plate ; one pair of supra- 

 nasals. Parietals separated, contiguous, or united into one plate. 

 Middle occipital distinct, or combined with the latero-occipitals ; a 

 pair of postoccipitals. Lower eyelid Avith a transparent disk. Auri- 

 cular aperture more or less conspicuously denticulated or lobulated in 

 front. Maxillary teeth compressed and truncated. Palate toothed. 

 Limbs four, strong ; five fingers and five toes, compressed, unequal, 

 clawed. Subdigital plates smooth. Palms and soles tubercular. 

 Tail subconical and tapering. 



Syn. — Euprepis, Wagl. Naturl. Syst. Amph. 1830, 161. — Wiegm. Herp. Mex. I, 

 1834, 11.— DuM. & BiBR. Erpet gen. V, 1839, 663.— Gray, Catal. Lizz. Brit. Mus. 

 1845, 110.— DuM. & A. DuM. Catal. meth. Kept. Mus. d'hist. nat. ii, 1851, 158. 



Observ. — The elements which constitute this genus are, as yet, 

 more or less intermingled with those arranged under the head of Till' 

 qua, requiring a thorough and critical study : a task we could not un- 

 dertake for want of sufiicient materials at our command. Should it 

 also become necessary to separate generically Euprepis delandii, E. bel- 

 cheri, E. graveiihorsti, and E. venustus, the above diagnosis must then 

 be partially modified, so as to read: " parietal plates separated ; middle 

 occipital, distinct." Then also the portion of the diagnosis of Racliites 

 or Chionia, whichever of these names be chosen for the species just 

 alluded to, will read : " parietal plates united into one ; middle occi- 

 pital combined with the latero-occipitals." The remaining generic 

 characters may likewise have to be further subdivided. Thus, we 

 would have a genus analogous to the one proposed further on, under 

 the appellation of Emoa, embracing such Eumeces in which a similar 

 union of the cephalic plates is observed. 



Euprepis venustus, Grd. 

 (Plate XXVI, figs. 1-8.) 



Char. spec. — Corpore et capite gracilibus atque depreesis. Cauda pos- 

 iice suhconica. Squamis in tres et quadragiiita usque ad quinque et 



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